In a full, exclusive interview, George Sr. went into more detail with Buckner:

"Paul's doing well now. He's doing good. He's just resting right now," George Sr. said. "If it had to break, it broke the right way. It broke evenly, so they're saying he should be back 100 percent. But of course, he's got to go through his long process of healing and getting back in the gym but they're saying that shouldn't stop him from doing what he was doing once he's healthy again."

George, 24, suffered the shocking injury in the fourth quarter of the USA Men's Basketball instrasquad showcase held in Las Vegas. While George, Sr. said "it's possible" that his son will miss the 2014-15 season, the timetable will be judged after he returns to Indianapolis on Monday and visits local doctors.

"We're saying the whole year," George Sr. said. "With an injury like that, you need some time off.

"Doctors said give him at least three months before he can start putting weight on it," George Sr. continued. "Then he said from there it's up to him how far he can go with it. We'll have to play it by ear. He's hurting. He still can't believe that this has happened."

Pacers team president Larry Bird released a new statement Saturday, via NBA.com:

Our first thoughts are with Paul and his family. It is way too early to speculate on his return as the No. 1 priority for everyone will be his recovery. Our initial discussions with our doctors and the doctors in Las Vegas have us very optimistic. We are hopeful at some point next week Paul will return to Indianapolis to continue his recovery.

There is no question about the impact on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. Our franchise has had setbacks in its history but has demonstrated the abilities to recover. Paul will provide the example of that off the court and it is up to the rest of us to provide that example on the court. Any discussion regarding the future of our team would be inappropriate at this time. Our focus is solely on Paul and doing whatever we can to help.

We still support USA Basketball and believe in the NBA's goals of exposing our game, our teams and players worldwide. This is an extremely unfortunate injury that occurred on a highly-visible stage, but could also have occurred anytime, anywhere.

Finally, the Pacers would like to thank our fans and the NBA community for their outreach of support in the brief amount of time since the injury occurred. It has been overwhelming and it is what makes Indiana and the NBA special.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports notes the timeline for George following surgery:

Pacers guard Paul George had a "good surgery. No ancillary damage" but likely out for next season, a source told Yahoo Sports.

Many wondered if the closeness of the hoop to the baseline had anything to do with the injury. Windhorst posted a photo of the basket in question on Twitter and stated his belief that the stanchion in the Thomas & Mack Center is much closer than you'd see on an NBA court:

The Showcase was halted after George went down with the White Team holding an 81-71 lead with nine minutes and 33 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. USA Basketball director Jerry Colangelo said after the game that the event couldn't have possibly continued, per Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver:

“This is a very tough blow. Not so much about us, but about Paul. It’s a first for us in USA Basketball.” Colangelo

The 24-year-old is coming off the best season of his three-year career. His 21.7 points a game were a career high, as was his 20.1 player efficiency rating, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

Now without Lance Stephenson, who signed with the Charlotte Hornets two weeks ago, Indiana will need to fill both starting wing positions with new blood. No player was more responsible for the Pacers' success last season than George.

The most pressing concern at the moment is that he can get back to that level once again.